Gabie Figueroa
American ice hockey player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gabriella "Gabie" Figueroa (born February 21, 1992)[1] is an American former professional ice hockey player who played for the New York Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).
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| Gabie Figueroa | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Figueroa in 2015 | |||
| Born |
February 21, 1992 Branchburg, New Jersey, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | ||
| Weight | 146 lb (66 kg; 10 st 6 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | New York Riveters | ||
| Playing career | 2009–2017 | ||
Playing career
Figueroa was originally a defenseman.[2] She first played hockey when she was a 9-year-old.[3][4] She got into the sport because a bunch of her brother's friends from school were playing.[5] Before every game, she tapes her own stick. She believes doing so increases her puck control.[3]
Youth
She played youth hockey for a number of clubs including Bridgewater Bears, Princeton Tiger Lilies, New Jersey Colonials and Connecticut Polar Bears and The Lawrenceville School.[6] Playing for Lawrenceville, she was named an all state player three times.[4] As a youth player, she sometimes played on all girls teams and mixed gender teams at the same time.[5]
Collegiate
Figueroa attended college at Princeton University, where she played for the women's ice hockey team.[2][7] Her senior season in 2013-2014 finished with 13 points on 12 assists and a goal.[6] After finishing her career at Princeton, she initially believed her playing days were over because of the lack of opportunities for women to play after college.[3]
NWHL
On August 15, 2015, Figueroa joined the New York Riveters for the inaugural 2015/16 NWHL season.[8][2][7][3][9][10] Because of salary cap restraints, most players needed to work other jobs including Figueroa who made the league minimum of $10,000. As a result, she only trained with the team two times a week with games played on Sunday.[2][7][3] When not training, she worked as a project engineer for Gilbane Building Company.[2][3] That season, she played in all 18 regular season games for the team, along with making post-season appearances.[11] She also played in the first game ever played in the league when the Riveters took on the Connecticut Whales.[12] She also scored the team's first ever goal.[13]
In 2016, she participated in the NWHL Free Agent Camp, watched by general managers from several teams in the league. She was one of only three defenders playing for her team in a scrimmage match.[14][15] In September 2016, it was announced that Figueroa would join the practice squad for the New York Riveters in their 2016/17 season.[16][11] Playing for the Riveters in 2017, injuries to other players meant she sometimes was playing as a forward. By mid-season, she had scored three times for her team.[17]
National team
She played for the United States women's u-18 national ice hockey team.[3] With the team for the 2010 IIHF U-18 World Championship, she won a silver medal.[6][4]
Coaching
In 2016, she was involved with running a USA Hockey ADM clinic.[4]
Awards and Honors
- 2014 Princeton's Patty Kazmaier Award (team award given annually to a senior member of the women's hockey team)
Personal
Originally from Branchburg, New Jersey,[7] Figueroa attended college at Princeton University. Figueroa graduated from Princeton in 2014 with a degree in structural engineering.[2][7][3]